Bottle machine



Sept. 14, 1926. f 1;600,153

v C. B. VAN HORN BOTTLE MACHINE Filed Jan. 11. 1921 9 Sheets-Sheet 5ATTORNEYJ-i Sept. 14,1926. 1,600,153

B.- VAN HORN Z Y BOTTLE MACHINE Filed Jan. '11 1921 9 SheetS-Sheet 4WITENZES; j INVENTOR.- p,

BY v GBVanHorn ATTORNEY. I

lessoonss Sept. 14 1926.

C. B. VAN HORN.

BOTTLE MACHINE Filed Jan. 11. 1921 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 CB. WmHorn INVENTORSpt. 14, 1926. 1,609,153

" C. B. VAN HORN v I BOTTLE MACHINE Filed Jan. 11. 1921 9 Sheets-Sheet 6l I aflVa/flfohi -50 F47 ATTOR EY INVBIIOR Sept. 14 1926.

, C. B. VAN HORN BOTTLE MACHINE v o 9 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed 'Jan. 11.1921- lit! INVENTOR,

. ATTORNEY.

WITNESS:

' Sept. 14 1926. I 1,600,153"

C. B. VAN HORN BOTTLE MACHINE Filed Jan. '11- 1921 9 Sheets-Sheet 8 ATTORNE Y.

Sept. 14 1925.

5. JAN HORN BCTTLE MACHINE Filed Jan] 11. 192

9 Sheet s-Sheet 9;

' INVENTOR. BY C. B. VanHorn ATTORNEY.

Patented Sept. 14, 1926.

CHAR-LES 13;. VAN HORN,

- OF. DETBOIT;' MICHIGAN.

BOTTLE MACHINE.

Application filed January 11, 1921. Serial No. 436,460.

The-invention relates to machines'for preparing bottles and likecontainers for filling.

and the capping thereof'and has for an object to; provide -a machine forthe soaking, scrubbing, Washing, filling: and capping of the bottles orcontainers.

The invention comprehends amongother features the provision of amachinefor soaking the bottles; scrubbing the same exe teriorly and thenwashing them interiorly and their filling andcapping the cleansedbottles; tlieo'peration ofso a-ln'ng, scrubbing, washing filling andcapping being successively carried'out 'in the various sections of themachine, which sections; or parts however, operate as aunit in-thatthrough cer tain mechanism the steps incident to the carrying out of thedesired obiectywillbe automatically pertlormed throughout the lengthofthe entire machine to the end that thebottles-or like containers afterbeing manually or otherwise fed into-the soaking andscrubbing sectionof= the machine are carried on' through this section into the Washingsection adapted to'the cleaning'of theinterior of the bottle andthenfurther conveyed orcarried on tothe filling and capping machine. V r

I am aware-that various formsof bottle soaking, scrubbing and washingmachines and'also filling and capping machines have been devisedheretofore, but in these in-. stances theyflhavebeen separate units inwhich thesCrubbing and Washing may take place inone machine and thefilling and capping in another independent machine bearing 'no operativerelation to the soaking and Washing-machine; in fact being entirelyindependent thereof and unrelated thereto.

In myinvention I aim to provide a single machine which successivelycarries outthe various operations mentioned and inwhich a single powerunitwill drive and operate all o'f'the sections and parts at the propertime and' in the proper manner'to take" care of the entire operationto'the end that the bottles will be effectively andexpeditiouslytaken=care of; requiring less laborand less timeandperforming the entire-operation ina small space.

Still} further the invention" comprehends amachine of' thecharactermentioned in which a' multiplicity of the bottles or. con-'-tainersare treatedat' onetiineand at-each tively carry out the necessarycleaning operations' required to place the bottles in 'condi: tionto'be-filled and then carry out the'latter and capthe bottles. 7

In the further'disclosure ofthe invention;

reference-is to be had to-theaccompanying drawlngs, constituting apartof this specl fication, in which similar charactersof reference denotecorresponding-parts in all the views, and in Which, V

Figure 1 is a side elevation taken through the soaking and exteriorscrubbing section;

. Figure" l is a side." elevation. forming a contln-uation of thestructure shown in Flg'f ure l"andcomprehendingtheinterior'bott'leWashing section and the" capping and I filling section;

I Figure 2 is a plan vieW- of the structure shown in Figure 1.-

F igure' 2 is a plan-view of the-structure shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is fragmentary vertical sectional View taken through the soakerand scrubber shovvnin Figure 1.

Figure 4; is an end View. partially in sec-'v tion o'f'thesoaker'shoWnin'Figures 1, 2', and

sectional view through the bottle Washer section shown. in Figures 1 2disclosing the detail of the brush and compensating mechanism; V Figure6"1san enlarged vertlcal longitu dinal. sectional" view taken throughthe capper and fillershoivn in 'Figures" 1 2:,

and disclosing a detail arrangement of the tion of acam controllingtheoperation of parts of my device."

Fig; 7 10' is an enlarged-detail in {side elevation of" a:cam'cooperating With the cam' shown in Fig." 9 and" controlling theoperation of partsofl my: device:

Figure 5 is an'enlar'ged ?vertical transverse Fig; 11 is an'enlarged.detail in end' eleva- 7 tion" partly in section of bottle turning.

Chefs" a mechanisnr in" the soaker section of my device Fig, 12'is anenlarged fragmentary end vieW- partly :in sectionofa part of the holdl gm ch smillithe interior bottle Wash! ing section of my le ice, the samebeing taken substantially on line 1212 of Figure 5.

Fig. 13 is an enlarged top plan view partly in section of a part of thecarrier mechanism in the interior washin section, which holds the neckof the bottle dur ng the interior washing 0138151131011, the view beingtaken substantially on line 13,13 of b Figure 5. 7

Referring to the views, and more particularly to Figures 1, 1, 2, 2 Idisclose a soaker and exterior scrubber section 10, a washer section lOiand a filler and capper section 10*, the sections 10, 10 and 10", beingmechanically connected by suitable mecha nism to bring about a unitaryoperation of the parts in order that bottles or containers tionsconnected to ether and which are ref- O i i erablyshown in differentparts in order thatthe drawings can be sufiiciently clear to L111?derstand, and distinguish the detailed mechanism and itshould be notedthat the machine as shown is adapted to perform the same. operation upona multiplicity of bottles at the same time althoughfor the purpose ofclearness I may at times-refer to a single bottle in describing itspassage through the machine it being understood however that one or moreof the bottles may be subjected to the same action at the same moment,

Referring now to Figures 1, 2, 3, the soaker and scrubbing section 10comprises a suit able frame 11 including supporting legs or uprights12and a water or other fluid containing tank 13 having suitable crosspieces 13 which strengthen the tank and are provided for various otherpurposes which will be more clearly disclosed hereinafter. The tank 18is provided at one end (theleft hand end) with aningoing feeding trough14 and at the other end (the right hand end) with an outgoing feedingtrough 15, the troughs 14, '15, being provided for the purpose ofguiding bottles or like containers 16 into and from the tankrespectively so thatthe bottles will feomewin proper contact with theparticular mechanisms provided to operate thereon. Journaled onextension brackets or portions 17 of the frame areaseries of the latterbeing in the nature of carrier elements to bump against the bottoms ofthe bottles as they are fed into the trough 14: and carry them tl roughthe tank to the necessary positions desired, enabling the bottles to beoperated upon. Each of the bumpers or carrier elements 22 is ofsubstantially circular construction and at the front end of each thereis provided a cushion 23 of rubber or some other suitable material whichmay be in the nature of a brush to operate upon the bottoms of thebottles due to the rotation of the latter against the cushions 23 aswill be readily understood. The carrier is driven by power shaft 2awhich carries one of each set of the sprocket -wheels 18 and which whenactuated, of course actuates the carrier to bring about the advancementof the bottles into the tank and the subsequent re: moval of the bottlesfrom the tank. ,t

A series of vertically movable transversely extending roller frames 25are provided and depending therefrom are. brackets .27 on which areournal'ed upper rollers 28,;the latter being carried by suitable shafts29 which at each end carry a pinion in mesh with a toothed wheel31carried; on a shaft 82 which also carries a sprocket wheel or wheels 33,the latter being geared up into a single train to be operated by a chain34: carried on a sprocket wheel 35 on a shaft 36, which shaft 36 carriesanother sprocket wheel 37 over which operates a continuous chain 38extending downwardly to operate over a sprocket 39 on a shaft 10, all ofthese mechanisms constituting a part of the frame or frames which arevertically'movable so that the accompanying sprockets and chains willbeactuated therewith. The shaft 4:0 also carries a sprocket wheel 41-1over i which passes a chain 42, theL latter also passmg over a sprocketwheel 43 on a shaft 14 journaled on a bracket 45 and the shaft letcarries a sprocket wheel 16 over which passes a chain 47, the la terpassing over a sprocket wheel 41.8 on a shaft 19 and which in turn isgeared up or connected through-the medium of a sprocket and chainmechanism 50, to iinpartrotation to a series of lower rollers 51, theshafts 52 of which are journaled in the crosspiece 13, of the frame ofthe tank.

' i It will nowbe apparent that when the bot tles pass in through thetrough 14 by the action of the carrier elements 22, they will be pushedor advances along in the tank and be immersed in the fluid therein andthe bottles will of course be received beween the upper rollers 28. andthe lower rollers 51 which roll-- ers 28, 51 are by the variouschain-and sprocket mechanisms described, 7 subjected to rotation, thusbringing about rotation of the bottles and this will immediately resultin a cleaning of the bottoms of the bottles by reason of the-cushions orbrushes 23 on the carr e ements 22, a

'just the rods 57, 58, 60cand' 61,

Asidefroin-the power shaft 24 whichis of course connected up in somesuitable manner-to the main drive shaft as willjbe hereinafter morefully disclosed, the operation of the soaks-r as to the scrubbing actionthereof upon the-bottles, is-brought about bythe actuating-ofa mainoperating rod 53, oneof whichisarranged on each side ofthe tank andconnects at its right hand endwithabell crank lever-54 of the interiorwasher of the bottles which will-be later described; The other end ofthe perating' rod53 has pivotal connection with; a'bell crank lever- 59and with the; end of a; link 53", the other end of which connects to abell crank lever 55, there beingtwo each of the levers 55 and 59, onearranged on eachside of the machine. Each lever 55 has connected to itanother bell crank lever 56. The longer armof the bell crank 55, ofwhich as mentioned heretofore there isone provided; on each side of themachine, has a vertical arm 57 and another vertical arm 58 connectedthereto and bell crank lever 59 hasa vertical rod; 60 equivalent totherod' 57connected thereto with a second vertical rod; 61 alsoconnected to thelonger arm of the 'bell crank lever 59. The bell cranklever-59 is in turn connected to another bell crank; lever-62 which by alinkconnects with the bell cranklever 56, the latter receivingt-herethrough-the bolt 64 which is adapted to. move within the slot 65'formed in the frame-of-the machine. Thisbolt 64 also extends through anopening intheouter endofthe arm 63 and a Wing nut 64" is mounted uponthe'outer end ofthis bolt in order to clamp the lever 56 and arm 63611adJusted-positibn by forcing-the arm lnfrictional contactwith themachine thus retaining the lever and arm against movement after tlie;lever 56 has been actuated to ad- The vertical rods 57, 60,when'theoperating arm 53-is'actuated,through the medium of the bellcrank levers 55 5 6, 59, 62, raise the rollerframes 25' thus moving theupper rollers 28 upwardly so that the bottles can readily enter betweenthe upper-'and lower rollers} The adjustable connections between link 63and lever 56 permits initial setting of the rollerframes 25 and thebrushes and 72, to be later described, so as to accommodate theparticular size or kind of bottles to be cleaned 'Theadjustment ismadeby tilting the lever 56on thef-ulcrum- 56- and bytlllllligof thebell'cr-ank lever 62 on the 111011111156 The vertical rods 58; therebeing one on each side, eachhas: its-upper endpro-vided with across-piece GS Qperating-in aslot-67 of abrush arm 68, pivoted at 69with abrush 70 carried on the: brush arm 681an'd dependingbeneath thebrush arm and having -connec tiontherewitlrby apart 712 Now it will beseen t at pera on ot' flthe p ng od-1 3' Will through themediunrofthebellcrank lever-55' for instance, actuate-therod 58gcausingthe cross pieee 66-to operate-in the-slot 67 thereby providingfor the12tlSlIlgor lovvering of the brush-70 so that even; if the brushbecomesworn-,.-itwill at all timescome in contact with the exterior of thebodyof the bottle; tooperate upon the; latter-and scrub it during therapidrotation ofithe bote tle, the cross piece '66 and'slot engagement 67thereof thusftaking care of the-positioning of the brush 7 Oregardlessof 'the operaa tion. of the .bell crank lever, 55 150; actuate-thevertical arm or. rod 57 actuatingthe' frames 25, it being; understoodthat this particular fornrofcompound mechanisnris desirable-so that atthe. moment thebottles are: properly accommodated for scrubbing: thescrubbing operation will takeplacer A= number. of brushes more;particularly for scrubbing; the necks of the bottles; as theyare-further. advanced in the. tank a-fterhaving been subjected toscrubbing action by the brush or brushes 7O and in order'thateaclrbrush- 72 111ay-bev properly disposed to operateupon the neck ofthe bottle, on the exterior thereof,' the-re is provided a cross shaft}'73 carrying-a-hand wheel 74twith the brush suitablymounted with.relation tothe shaft 73 by me'ansof ,i

72- are provided,

brush holders mounted loosely. onsaid shaft so that when the latter isrotated a pinion 7 5 thereon will travel over- 'afirack; 76' to movethebrushes .72 longitudinally-of the bottles sothat the particulardisposition of each brushx72 tothe particular kind and character of neckof the bottle toQbe scrubbed, can be securely-' 'set oh-effectively 1operat'eupon the-neck of the; bottle, the rais mg of; the brush 72being-accomplished by theiverticalrods 60 and 61 which as-men} tionedheretofore, are connecte'dfto the long' arm of'the bell crank lever 59soxthat' the rods-6O and 6l 'are raised, by the raising of the long armof the 'lev-er 59 Wand the raising of each brush72 is ;coincident'l1'ere' with, a-ndinfact' also with the operation ot' the rods 57', 58;The-shaft 73 is mounted in the upper ends ofthe rods; .61- and extendsthrough a vertical slot '61Qfornaedgi1r the upper portion of [each of-the"supporting arms 62 which are pivoted attheiy lower ends, tothebody; of thevframe as at; 63 The rack 76is secured to anar'in 64 whichextendsf'rom the-roller framej25gas shown in; Figure 1; of thedrawings-, Thisstruc= ture permits; adjustinent of "the shaft in; themanner above stated and the shafhtoge ther withthe--pin;75-is-hell inadjusted-position therack 76* moving--- the liaft 73 lateral-I3 brusheswill set themselves according to the Size and shape of the bottles beingwashech It will be understood that there is sufficient friction betweenthe pinion and the rack 76 for maintaining same in an adjusted position.The brackets 27 for the rollers 28 are carried on vertical shafts T7,

and springs 78 are provided "on the frames thus allowing of a verticalmovement of the rollers as to the particular diameters of the bottlesreceived in. order that an adjustment of therollers under thespringtension of thespring 78 relative to-the cross frames will be provided,the rollers thus being self adjusting as to the. bottles independentlyof the vertical movementof the cross frame.

The carrier 19 must of'course be periodically actuated to advance thebottles in the tank and by reference to Figure 1 it will be seen-thatthe powergshaft' 2d carries a toothed wheel 79 meshing with a toothedwheel 8Q ona shaft 81,which carries one of the sprockets 18 in such amanner that the sprocket 18, will'be rotated by the rotation of theshaft 81, a ratchet wheel 82 being also carried on the, shaft81 with abracket 83 loosely mounted on the shaft. The bracket 83 carries a springactuated pawl or dog 84 cooperating with the ratchet wheel 82 and anactuating rod- 85 has connection with the bracket '83 as shown. Now whena pull is exerted onjthe rod '85, the dog bearing against one of the:teeth of the ratchet'wheel 82 will bring about a partial rotation of theratchet wheel thus, rotating he toothed wheel which in turn, meshingwith the toothed wheel 7 9, will rotate the shaft 2a, the lattercarrying one of the sprockets- 18 forming apart of the carrier andthereby 'imparting movement of the carrier to advance the ibumpers' orcarrier elements so that they in turn will advance the bottles in thetank. This operation is intermittent due to an intern'iittent pullexerted on the ;-r0d 85, the operation of the rodgbein'ghereinafter'more fully disclosed, and forming a part of the section 10?;v Q I Itwill now be seenthatin the operation of the soakerand scrubber,which as men tioned heretofore, includes the-section 10,

a pull exerted on the rod will intermittently actuate the carrier topeiiodically' advance the bottles intothe 'machine, into position'to beeXter-iorly-.scrubbed on the body;-- thereof, then intoposition to .bescrubbed on. the neck thereof and subsequently carried out of; themachine through the out-going feedingtrough'lfi andthat througlrtheoperation of, the operating rod 53 connecting withthe bell crank lever54-, the various 'upper rollers and brushes will beadjusted aut m tcally to bot l s f different diameters in order that they will contacttherewith and bring about the desired operation of those parts upon thebotties as the bottles pass through the soaking tank, it beingunderstood that when the bottles have passed through the soaker andscrubber, they will have been thoroughly soaked and exteriorly scrubbedand cleaned.

Referring now to Figure 1 it will be seen that the operating arm 53 isclearly shown in Figure 1, as a continuation of the arm as disclosed inFigure 1, and so also with the rod 85, both the arm 53 anditsaccompanying bell crank lever 5 1 together with the rod 85, being shownat the left hand end in Figure 1 The bottles having been soaked andexteriorly scrubbed, it will be apparent that after hey are received inthe out-going feeding trough 15, each bottle will subsequentl gravitatedownthe incline 786 to be received in and operated upon by the secondsection 10 which I have designated the washer section of my machine andwhich more particularly may be termed the washer for washing theinterior of the bottles; This hereinafter disclosed. This frame 87carries a shaft 88 which in fact might be called the primary shaft, itreceiving the power for the entire machine direct from a suitable sourceof supply and itwill be'here noted that the shaft 88 carries a toothedwheel 89 over whichpasses a chain 90 extending for: wardly anddownwardly to the soaker illus trated and described in Figuresl and 3,and said chain passes over a toothed wheel91 on a shaft which in turn,through the me: dium ofa beveled gear 93, is geared up with the shaft lbeneath theftank 13 of the soaker, thus supplying the necessary powerto'bring'about the rotation of the rollers of the soaker describedhereto-fore. As the bottle which leaves the out-going feeding trough 15gravitates down the incline of the trough, it is caught and stopped by apivoted stop member 9e'which includes a plurality of stop elements 95,96, carried on a centrally pivoted beam 9?, the elements 95-, 96 beingarranged tc'operate in the trough 15 with the element 95 extended intothe path of the t-roughto stop the bottle inits movement down theincline, At a subseqi'ient time the stop mechanism 94 is operated'gtoreverse the relative positions of the elements 95, 96, thus allowing thebottle to continue its passage down the incline to the stop nember orelement 95,-which later on,wh'en the stop member is again operated, willbe moved out of the path of the out-going feeding troughto permit thebottle'to further advance into the washer secti,on:10 The her 9 1 willalsobe rocked. Member 97-and' sli'ait 9T are mounted on-a'truss 01"girt9'1 which secures the sections 10 and 10 in definite spacedrelationship. The slot 97? is an off-set orjbayonetslot, so that -oper-,ation of roller 97* effects movement of a'm' 97 to the dotted flineposition in Figure 8 when'arin 97 moves to its dotted line position inthat figure. The link or bar provided for the operation o'f the stopmember or mechanism 9% is indicated by the numeral 98 and-i's 'show'nat'the right hand end'of Figure 1 and'atthe left handendrof Figure 1said lever 98 being of an-a'uxili-ary nature and connecting directlywith the oper'atinglever to be actuated by the latter :when it is inturn'actua-ted to operate the carrier of'the soaker.

The frame'87'alsocarries as'ha'ft 99 which is operated through themediunrotatrain of gears 100, 101, the latter being carried upon themain or primary-shaft 88' to impart-rotation'totheshaft 99. The shaft 99carriesa crank arm 102011one end and asiinil-ar crank arm 108 on theother'end,

each being provided with a roller 1O4: o"}' eratingon a cam 105, thelatter being-fpivo-ted The tree end of the cam has at 106. I p pivotalconnection with 'a rod 107 which connects withone enchof a bell cranklever 108 loosely inountedon a shaft 109, on'th'e frame 87 and theotherend otthe bell crank lever 108, indicated by the n'tinier-al 108has connection with *the operating rod '85 which has been describedheretofore, as the con-- nect-ing means for bringing about intermittentoperation of the carrier of "the soaker and also operational the stopmechanism in the 'out-goinjg feeding 'tro'ugh, it 'being u'nde'rstoodthat the operat-Ion ott he rod 85 is in the natiire of a fpnll-exertedby the downward action of the rod 107 which'of course later on will bereversed. in its 'actionl It will be noted that-the free end of the camalso carries a downwardly extending rod lltl'which at its lower endconnects with a combined "brush and bottle compensating mechanism .111,consisting of a link 11-2 tothe upper end ol which the'rod 110-connects,

the lower end of said link having'pivotal connection with another linkwhich in turn'is connected to a block 1141 adapted to operate verticallyin guides 1 15. The link 12 has connection with 'an upWardIy extendinglink or bar 116 having a projection 117 Operating in a slot- 118 formediii-the frame 87. The. upper end of the rod 116 connects with a link119' which has one end thereof in pivotal connection witha link 120jonrnaled on the i 'ram'e. of the machine, the

other end oi"t'h'e lin'k 119conn'e'ctingwith a cross head 121 adapted tomove vertically 1n guides 122, this cross head forming-a part of thebottle compensating mechanism 111. Now itwill be apparent that when abottle-is in inverted position in the Washer and is ready to be operatedupon bythe brush, which 'willbe hereinafter mentioned in detail, it isnecessary that the bottle be secured in position for washing"and it' isfor this reason that the-compensating mechanism is provided, the latterinsuring the proper positioning of the bottle regardless of its length.With this in View, it will be apparent that the downward push on thelever 1.1.0 will because of the provision of the projection 117 intheslot' 118 of the lever 116, impart adownwardflmovern'ent to the lever116 and thus because "of the links 119, 120, carry down the cross head121 against-the bottom or the inverted'b'ot tl'e. At the 'moment thecross head strikes the bottom of the invert-ed bottle the ful cru nofthe link 112 will be changed to the point where the; link connects withthe lever 116 and thusa iitirth'er"downward movement ot the rod 110willresult in an upwardswingi-ng movement of the lowerfend of the, l nk'112 "thus carrying the block 1'14 tipwardly. The block ll e'ha-sconnected-there'- to at-suitable ii 'ater 'supply 123 which-ha s -abranch pipe or pipes l-2 l, shown in detail" in Figure, 5,'said pipeconnecting-in an euit-T able manner :with a tubular rotatable-brushholder 125 and its accompanying brush126,

the holder and brush beingnnova-ble up wardl-y with the block Hat-tobringthe brush upinto the bottle which is in position to he cleanedinteriorly and which for the sake of convenience and cleainess 'issl1ownin Figure 5 The rotation of the brush holder and its passing'ov'er atoothed idler wheel 129bn' a stud shaft 130 suitably connected to'ashaft 131, which in turn is operated byf'a chain connectionlBQCOnHGCtlDg withthe primary shaft 88 by a. toothed wheel 133.Theconnec'tion from shaft 131 to shaft 130 {is best shown in Figures 5and 2, andco'nsietsbf loov 105 and 'idi'ca'ted by 'thehun'ierafl 16.

a miter gear 130 keyed or otherwise secured to the inner end of shaft131 and meshing .I,..," with a similar gear 1-30"-keyed or othesecuredito 'a stub shaft-18 0"- towh'ich 1s se- 1 cured ja sprocket ortoothed wheel "130 'nie'sh ing with chain 128. "Thus it will be"apparen't that the brush 'hold'er' and its acco'nn panying brush areconstantly rotated and of course when the brush is advanced 1116- fwardly into the interior oi the bottle, se

cured in position to be 'washed,-s'a-id"bottle will be subjected "to therotary action of the 4 brush and the cleaning operation is facili- Vtated by the stream of water from the sup centrally pivoted beam 135,the other end or"; which has connected thereto the upper end of avertically disposed rod 136 which latter extends downwardly and connectswith the bell crank lever-54. It will be rememberedthat the bell cranklever 54 is the interposed connection between the operatingv arm 53 andthe section 10*, namely the interior washer, whereby operation or thearm is obtainedt-o bring about operation and adjustment of the upperrollers and brushes or the soaker and it will of course be clear that ateach revolution of the toothed wheel 101 the roller 134will be broughtinto contact with the beam135 to actuate the rod 136 and thus impartoperation to the operating arm 53 and its co-operating mechanismheretofore described, o

By reference now, to F igure' 1., it will be seen that the 119111887supports a continuous bottle carrier 137 which is adapted in itsintermittent operation to receive and remove from the feeding trough 15each' bottle as the latter is. permitted to descend in the trough tothc'section 10 and of course the intermittent operation of the carrierwill bringthe bottle to the point where it is opera-ted upon as shown inFigure 5 and at which point the cross'head-121descends-to fix the bottleand the brush 126 ascends to operate upon the interior of the bottle.The carrier may be of any desired construction butis preferably made upof a series of connected carrier elements 138, each of which is adaptedto receive the neck of abottle, the

carrier elements beingshown in detail in Figures5 and 13. Nowreferringonce more to Figure 5, it will be seen that each carrierelement 138 includes a cup shaped portion 139 which is normally held upby a spring 140 and which by the action of the head or" the bottle inthe portion 139 may be depressed against the' action of the spring 140and thus strike and actuate a vertically slid able plate 141 alsonormally held up by a spring 142 in a casing 143, this constructionbeing provided to further compensate for bottlesof different lengths inorder to secure carrier 137 is actuated it is necessary to bring aboutan intermittent movement in order that the bottles at the proper moment7 of time willbe brought into and out of washing position andtheretoreeach carrier element 138 is provided with an extension 144having a. notched-outportion 145, the latter receiving the lower end ofa vertlcal stop or rod 146, the upper end of which is connected tooneend of a beam 147, pivoted.

on the frame 87, the other -tree end or the beam 147=being adaptedto beperiodically engaged by a roller 148 carried on anextension of the crankarm 102 which carries the roller 104 operating over the cam 105, Thusthe stop or rod 146 will be periodically raised and lowered and whenlowered will strike one otthe extensions 144 of one of the V carrierelements 138, thus stopping the,

carrier and its elements at a pre-determined period and 21.13Wl110lltime a bottle 1s re ce ved 1n position for washing.

' The shaft 109 carries a ratchet 149 and loosely mounted upon the shaftis an arm 150 formed on or secured t-ovone end of a bucket 151, said arm150 connecting with the lower end of a rod 152 which extends upwardly toconnect with an arm ot a cam lever 153, the latter being pivoted on theframe 87 and having its cam portion 154 adapted to be operated upon bythe roller 104 on the crank arm on the shaft 99. The arm 150 alsocarries a spring actuated pawl or dog 155 adapted to operate upon theratchet 149 so that when'an upward pull is exerted onthe rod 152 theratchet 149,through the co-operation of the pawl 155, will be rotated,and having connection with the carrier 137, will intermittently actuatethe, latter thus removing a bottle or section, of bottles that has beeninteriorly washed and advancing in place thereof a new bottle or sectionof bottles to be washed. This same action of the arm 150 through themedium of the rod 152 and the cam lever 153, actuatesthe bucket 151, thelatter being disposed adjacent one end of the carrier 137 to receive oneof the bottles and by its downwardmovement depositing said bottle in atrough or chute 156 which in tact forms a part of the section 10 knownas the filler and capper section. v V

The filler and capper section comprises a frame 157-from which thetrough 1556 ex tends at an angle to be met by the bucket 151 when thelatter is swung downwardly thereby insuring the gravitation oi thebottle in the bucket into the chute 15 6. Thev frame 157 has journaledthereon a plurality of cross shafts 159, 160, whichcarry toothedwheels162, 161, respectively, the said toothed wheels being connected bya chain 163 which forms a part of a continuous carrier 164,

including a series of equidistantly spaced bottle carrier elements 165.Thecarrier 164 traverses the chute 156 so that when the bottle is lyingin the chute and the carrier is in lntermittent operation, one of thecarrier elements 165, traversing the chute in I its movement, will :pick'upthe bottle in the chute and'advan'ce it into a vertical yposition,sliding the bottle from the base or bottom 158 of the chute so that thebottom of the bottle will repose upon and be slid along a table 166carried by the frame 157. The shaft 160 carries a ratchet wheel 167 andloosely mounted on the'shaft is an arm 168 carrying a spring actuateddog or 'pawl'169 adapted to co-operate with the ratchet wheel 167 tointermittently-actuate the carrier 164. The lower end of a-rod 170 isconnected to the arm 168 and extends upwardly to connect with an arm 171which is carried on the shaft 109,- said arm 171 being either in--tegrally formed with the arm 150, or keyed or riveted thereto, so thatoperation of the rod 152'in .the'manner described heretofore.v willactuate "the rod 17 O, thusbringing-about rotation of the shaft 160 andintermittently operating the carrier.

A plurality-of uprights 172 are suitably anchored in a movable sub-frame173 mounted to slide horizontally on suitable guides 174, said uprightsbeing in the nature of racks, as shown 'in'Figure 6. The sub-frame 173includes swinging uprights 175and cross pieces 176 and by reference toFigure 1 it will be seen that the sub-frame can be,swung-horizontally'on the frame 157 by having adepending threaded plate177 engagedby a screw'rod 178 suitably mounted on'the frame 157-andgcarrying aegear 179, meshing with a gear ,180 on, a horizontal shaft181,-the latter being's'uitably journaled beneath a table 182 with-asuitable hand wheel or lever 183 provided forturning the shaft 181, thusas willbereadily'seen bringing about a horizontalmovement-of thesubframe 174 relative tothe frame'157. This construction is provided inorder thatuthe bottles will be properly centered beneath the filling andcapping mechanism, itfbeing readilyunderstood that bottles of differentdiameters naturally would have t'o be ditteri 'ently disposed oradjusted beneath the filling and capping mechanisms inorder toproperly'center the bottles relative thereto.

Each of the uprights 172 has m'ovably mounted thereon a filler 184. sEach filler co'mprehends a container 185 supported'on a frame 186 whichlatter also carriesa toothed wheel 187 meshing with the rack-of theupright 172 to facilitate theguiding of.

the frame 186.vertically upon the rackor upright. The filler, beneaththe container in the downwardmovement of the filler," thus 7 allowingthe liquid in the container 185. vtog pass out through th'e resultingopening 7' and thus flow from the inner :-slee-'v,e into-the bot-7 tle.,An air tube 193 has its-upper end p'ro j ecting 7 upwardly beyond thecontainer and thisltube projects downwardly through the inner sleeve andterminates ina head 19.41

having a. ball valve 195 therein, this lieatl 194 beingreceivedwit-hinthe neck ofthe bottle during the filling *operation so"that when the bottle becomes filled with liquid the ball valve 195will, bythe action of the liquid, float and thus close; the lower end ofthe tube 193 thereby-shutting offitheout-v let of air from thevbottlewhich isfnow filled. Of'course'it will be-understood that;

of the filling devicesand that'each bottle-iny the movement of thecarrier, willbe'brought beneath the first filling devieej and -subsequently "beneath the second, "this arrangement being provided to Iinsurecomplete filling of the bottle in that; if the bottleisfnot filledcompletely by the-actionof-the;first) filler it will,, when subsequentlysubjected t-0-,

the action of the second filler, be properly filled with thedesired-liquid Eachao'fthev fillers 184, mentioned heretofore is'vertlcally movable upon each upright 172 and in order to;accomplishthis vertical move-- ment, 1 provide, for "each filler a rod-196 whiohhas gpivotal connection -at its upper end with the filler sand itslower, end connects withan armof the bell crank lever 197, the latterbeing suitably pivoted on-the frame 157 and having anotherf'arm thereofconnecting with a rod,19 8 which-latter rod in turn connects withgacrank arm 199 carried on the shaft 109, the cr-ajnk arm 199 belngmovable -with thearms '108, -108"-,fof

which the :arm 108 has connect-ion with the rod 107, the operation ofwhich has been mentioned heretofore, Springs 196*; -sur -1- round'rods196 so as to make a resilient connection between the rock levers-and thefillers to compensate for differences in heights of bottles; Thus 'whenthe-rod- 1O7 is actuated to actuate the operating rod-8 5, the rod 198-will be simultaneouslyoperatedf to actuate the bell crank lever-orlevers 197,

a bellcrank lever 197? of an auxiliary -nature being also providedandepivoted' on the 1 frame 157 to connect with a link l97 p-liavmgconnection with an arnrof the lever 197,

said bellcrank le ver'197 insuring operation of thesecondfiller.

' -It;will now be seen thatgthe -carrier-fo'r the 1 fillerjand capper-is intermi tten-tly operated to bring the bottlesnccessively beneath 7aplurality of the fillers, which latter through-the medium of thesub-frame 174 can be moved horizontally inorder to ad- ;iiist them inthe ,vertical line of the bottle,

' the vfillers. being also movable vertically to willbe seen that thelink 19? has an end thereof connected to a bell cranlr lever 200 pivotedonfthe frame 157 with an arm of the bell crank lever connecting with arod 196 which-may be spring actuated as shown andis connected to thecapping apparatus, to be later described, for raising and lowering thesame in thesame manner'as' the filling apparatuses are raised andlowered; a fixed rod 201 extends up along the frame of the machine andcarries a roller 202, the latter being adapted to operate upon aninclined face 203 of a curved operating lever 204 pivoted onthe crosshead 205 and connectedby a link 206 withone end of a hell 1 crank lever207' pivoted on the frame of-the machine. The cross head 205coinprehends a capping mechanism for capping the bot tles after theyarefilled and the cross head is adapted to slide vertically'on anupright 208 similarto 'the uprights 172 and including a rack 209overWhich is adapted to operate toothed wheel; 210 ied on the crosshead. The cross head carries a vertically movable plunger 211', thelower end of which is provided with a driver 212 suitably guided in acentering head 213, the lower end of which is flared to properly centerthe top ofthe bottle relative to the driver. NoW referring to'Figure 6,it will be seen that when a' bottle is brought into positionbeneathpthe' capper it will repose upon a vertically movable platform214' which is carried on a plunger or rod 215 mounted in a casing 216,the platform 214 bei'ng'normally supported by an expansible helicalspring 217 which of course will compress when the capping operation isabout tot-eke place in order'that the mechanism will be able to takecare of bottles of differ ent lengths, the cross head being adapted tobe moved downwardly until it strikes the top ofthe bottle, regardless ofthe height of the latter. Thus it will be seen that when the cappingapparatus is pulled downwardly the cross head will be also moved wardlyand so also the lever 204. At'the moment the centering head 213 engagesthe top of the bottle to firmly centerand secure the'bottle between thecentering head'and the table 214 the continued downward movement of thecapping apparatus will cause the roller 202 to operate over the inclinedface 203 thus actuating the rod or leover 204, and in turnactuating theT-shaped lever 20'? which latter has an arm 218 theredownof connected tothe plunger 211." By reference to Figure 7 it will of course be seenthat a cross arm 219 connects with an eX-' tension 220 of the lever 207in order to actuate the various other plungers: 212 (Figure 7) on themachine, all of these plungers being identical in form and operation. Ahopper 22.1 is carriedby a cross head and is adapted to be filled withcaps 222whichfin this instance are in the nature of wafers or disks. Ahorizontal pusher 223 is arranged to move across tllGlOWBlBDCl of thehopper and bears against the lowermost cap, pushes the same out of thehopper into position in the centering head 213 and immediately beneaththe drives 212 which latter when actuated will force the positioned capdownwardly into the mouthof the bottle, the cap being thus of courseseated in the bottle to firmly seal the latter.' The pusher 223 is'actuated by a bifurcated arm 224 which is suitably mounted to swing on ashaft 225 and has its bifurcatedend in sliding engagement with thepusher and the arm 224- the arm 224 to in turn 'actuate the pusher 223and remove a single cap from the hopper to the centering head.- Thesub-frame 228 having the inclined face 227 thereon, is pivoted to swinghorizontally and is nor mally locked by a dog 230 whichby reason ofalever actuated bya spring 231 can be unlocked, permitting'the sub-frame228 to:

be swung out of the path of the roller 226, this being desired ininstances where ii'the operation of the machine, a bottle is not re-- It"will be ceived in position for capping. V apparent, that if in theoperation of the machine a means were not provided to control thefeeding of the caps to the'centeringhead, the operation of the mechanismwould result in a cap being fed each time the mechanism is actuated. Bythe provision of the sub-frame 228, the capping andfeed; ing mechanismcan be thrown out of opera-- tion so that no caps will be advanced intocapping position except when there is a bottlereceived beneath thecapper to receive a cap. 7

After the bottle has been capped the various mechanisms described forworking the intermittent operation of the carrier 164 will function toadvance the carrier and thus remove the filled and capped bottle fromthetable 214 on to a downwardly inclined table portion 161 of the table 166so that after the particular carrier element 165 has passed on and leftthe filled and capped bottle on ,thetable portion 161", the saidbottlecan-be readilyremoved manually on to the table lee-and thencedispatchedin any suitable manner to the proper boxes or pla ce s of storage 'ordelivery.

Having now described the 1 individual W mechanisms and operations of 1the ,various sections 10, lo and 10F, embodying the soaker and .exteriorscrubber section, "the interior Washer-section. and the'tillerand'capper section, itjyill be apparent thatthe operation of eachand allfof the sections, is a coinci dent one, in thatyvhilebottles are beingreceived in and carried through the section 1.0

to be soaked and exteriorly washed, others of thebottlespreviouslysubjected to the operation ,of the .soaker, Will ,be advancing throughtheinteriorw asher to be acted upon by its various operating parts tothoroughly clean the inteiiorof the bottle, and likewise other "of thebottles previously subjected to the act-ion of the soaker and theinterior Washer ivill novvbe in theprocess of filling and capping. Inthis manner a continuous operation is afforded and from the timean emptybottle is carried into the soa'ker, to the timeyvhen it is deliyered to.the table182 the bottle will be successively subjected to a soaking vandexterior cleaning, an interior scrnbbing action and ,ulti nately'afilling and capping operation, 7

As mentioned lmnetofore, I am aware that variousmachines have beendevised heretofore for, soaking andscrubbing bottlesand for filling andcappingbottles but in all of theseinstances the; soakergis one formofmachine and thefiller and capper is an entirely independentmechanisninot in any manner .related to thesoaking and washingmachinery. It isbythenovel arrangement and construction of my form ofbottle washing,vfilling and capping machine thatI am able to soakandexteriorly Wash, interiorly clean and till and cap one or amultiplicityofbottles- With nemachine, which as described herein, hasmerely been divided into sections in order that the construction of themachine and the, relative arrangement of the various parts could beclearly set up but it must be understood that the machine opjerates as aunit inavhich, While, one or more bottles are being operated upon by onepart of themachine, one or more bottles in other parts of the machineare being simultaneously operated upon in order that the ultimate resultof filling and capping can be attain e dlin connection with a bottlethat has been previously preparedpfor this operation vby and Within thesamemechanism.

In order that the above may be more fully understood in conjunction iththe description and operation of the various sections 10, 10 and 10",described heretofore, it nay be Well to reiterate that the shaft 88which fact the primem'overon which the operation 7 of the entire machinedepends, this shaft being connected up with any suitable source ofmotor'power which may or may not be an electric motor and which may. becon-g nected with the shaft in any suitable manthrough the medium of thedescribed beam and roller, brings about vthe operation of the brushesonthe exterior of the bottles. Like-Q Wise the operation of the. rod 8 5insures'in terinittent action of the carrierof the'soaker andalso"through suitable mechanism described, controls the advancementof abottle or bottles 1 from the .soaker to' the carrierof the interior.washer; This carrier137 is of course also intermittently operated tobring the bottles into position to'be interiorly scrubbed and washed andsubsequently advancedin the machine to" the neXtoperation and thereforethrough the medium the cams 105, 153, the intermittent operation of thecarrier l37 and the "operation ofthe compensating ,inec'hani'sin'allowing for dif ferent sizedbottles. together With the. action ,of theinterior brush, is brought about so that, I when the bottle issubsequently delivered ,to thebucketbf theinterior Washer it willhaveIbeen cleaned exteriorly and interiorly and be meager the 'fillingand vcap ping operation. 1 Here the bottle must also be carriedintermittently through the [section,.1 andthe carrier thereof, indicatedthe numeral 164 is in turn intermittently operated through. the mediumof the rod 1170 and thecam: 153 which through the inechanism described,,actuates the rOd at the proper time. So also the filling and cappingmechanisms are in turnoperated synchronously With the operation of thecar-,

rier and through the medium of the rod 198 and the ca1n lO5, bring aboutthe desired action. whereby the bottle filled and properly capped isultimatelydelivered to the table 182 from which itcanbe manually orother- Wvise removed for packing or storage, as the casemay be.

It will of course be understood thatjin amachine of this vcharacter itis preferable to subject a multiplicity of bottlesyto the samexactipn atthe sameinstant, and. al-' though. at times I. have referred to asinglebottle and other times' 'to a multi- Qplicity of bottles itxvill beclearthat Whether I have termed theprimary shaft, is in the. machine.operates on ,a', single bottle or a number of bottles, the duplicationof the mec'hanism in the latter instance is substantially the same.

Therefore it will be apparent that in instances Where I have mentionedonly one'or a certain partiof a mechanism, tWo' ormore may be employed,the

' machine described comprehending 1n its-operation the thorough cleaningof a bottle or bottles and the subsequent filling and capping thereofina step by step manner in which one part or section of one machine mayand in fact must depend on another part or section of the same machine111' oroer' thattlre desired object will be fulfilled.

Itwill of course be understood that I do not limit myself to theparticular construc- I tion and details of arrangement set forth 7 setforth and defined by the appended claims.

I Having described my invention, I claim,-

11A machine comprising interconnected sections, one a soaker andexterior bottle scrubber and the other an interior bottle Washer, acarrier for the soalrer and scrubber section to advance the bottlestherethrough, a carrier for the. interior washer section to'advance thebottles therethrough, an operating shaft, means on the second mentionedsection and operable by said operating shaft and connecting With thecarrier' of the first mentioned section to operate the same and means onthe second section and operable'by said operating shaft and connectingWith the carrier of the second said section to operate same.

2, Ina bottle Washing and filling and capping machine the combinationwith intar-connected Washing sections and a capping and filling sectionconnected to the former, of a shaft, means for operating said shaft, cammechanism operable by said.

shaft, and means operable by said shaft, and

controllable by said cam mechanism for concomitantly operating mechanismin all of said sections.

3. In a bottle Washing and filling and capping machine the combinationwith interconnected Washing sections and a capping and filling sectionconnected to the former, each including a respective carrier, of ashaft, cam mechanism operable by said shaft, and a connection from eachof said carriers to said cam mechanism and operable thereby.

4. In a bottle Washing and filling and capping machine the combinationwith inter-connected Washing sections and a cap- :ping and fillingsection connected to the former, of a shaft, cam mechanism operablethereby,'and a respective connection for each of said sections andoperable by said cam mechanism. I

5, In a bottle Washing and scrubbing and filling and capping machine'thecombination With bottle Washing and scrubbing sections a filling andcapping. section of movable continuous carriers for said sections, ashaft, cams operable by said shaft, connections operable by one of saidcams for effecting operation of the carrier of one section and'thefunctionperforming mechanism of aplurality of other sections, andconnections operable by another of said cams for effecting operation ofthe carriers of said plurality of other sections. I V

6. In a device of the class described, the combination of a plurality ofmachine sections each including a respective bottle carrier, and eachincluding means for performing a respective function With relation to abottle, an operating shaft for all of said sections, a pair of camsoperable from said shaft, means operable from one of said came tooperate the carrier of one ofsaid sections and the function performingmeans of an other of said sections, and means operable by the other ofsaid cams for operating the carrier of said 'other of said sections intimed relation to the operation ofthe function performing means by thefirst said cam.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination of a pluralityofma-chine sections each including a rotary bottle carrier and aratchet-and-pawl drive therefor, a driving shaft, cam mechanism operableby said shaft, and a respective link for each of said ratchet-and-pawlelements and operable by said cam mechanism for operating said bottlecarriers in timed relationship.

8. In a device of. the class described, the combination of a pluralityof machine sections forming a plurality of bottle operating stations,hereat the bottles may be scrubbed, Washed, filled, and capped, aplurality of bottle carriers for moving bottles from one to another ofsaid stations in timed relationship, an operating shaft for effectingoperation of said'sections at each of sa d stations, cam mechanismoperable by said shaft, and a plurality of links operable by said cammechanism and con nected to the respective bottle carriers for effectingoperation thereof.

9. A machine of the class described comprising a plurality of primaryrollers, means for feeding bottles along said rollers, secondary rollersfor maintaining bottles in contact with the first said rollers, andmeans for operating on saidbottles.

In testimony whereof I affix mysignature.

CHARLES B. VAN HORN.

lit)

